This invention relates to a method and system for controlling the automatic operation of a nuclear electric power generating plant and more particularly to such method and system utilizing an electronic computer.
Most electric energy is now generated by steam electric power generating plants utilizing such fossil fuels as coal and petroleum but potential sources of such fossil fuels are limited. Furthermore, combustion of fossil fuels accompanies a problem of pollution of the atmosphere. Accordingly, nuclear energy will be used extensively in the future as a source of electric energy.
However, the operation and control of a nuclear electric power generating plant (for brevity, hereinafter abbreviated as nuclear plant) are extremely complicated and involve one thousand or more operating devices, instruments or the like which the operator of the plant should operate or supervise, and the operation of such operating devices are related to each other. For example, it is necessary to operate them according to a prescribed sequence.
Other factors that make difficult the operation and control of a nuclear plant involve due consideration of the characteristics of the nuclear reactor itself, the pressure of the reactor pressure vessel, and the thermal power or output of the fuel rods in the reactor core, which make more difficult the operation of the operator. Moreover, there are many instruments, recording meters, operating conditions of reactor elements, for example the output distribution and local peaking of the fuel rod (local peak of the output) and voluminous data obtained by computing various quantities of the machines and apparatus in the plant.
For this reason, the operator of the nuclear plant is required to operate the plant by carefully watching a plurality of instruments, recording meters and numerous data. However, as described above the number of such meters and data are numerous and related to each other in complicated fashions, and the operator is required to have a high degree of skill and experience for satisfactorily operating the plant.
In recent years, in view of the shortage of fossil fuels and the problem of pollution the number of nuclear plants is increasing gradually. However, it is difficult to secure excellent operators.